Name of the Goths

[ualarauans]

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Francisc Czobor" <fericzobor at ...> 
wrote:
>
> However, there was an Eastern Germanic tribe named Victoali (or
> Victofali, Victophali, Victobali), mentioned in connection with 
other
> Eastern Germanic tribes like Taifali, Thervingi, by authors like
> Eutropius (Breviarium ab urbe condita, Book VIII) and Paulus 
Diaconus
> (Historia Romana, Book VII). Victovaloke looks just like a strange
> alteration of Victo(f)ali...

The names Uictouali and Taifali (< Taiuali?) seem Celtic, and these 
tribes might have been rather East-Celtic (relative to Boii) and 
thus Celtic-speaking, getting allied with the Goths and finally (but 
when?) Germanized? Gaulish *victo-val- means "battle-strong" and is 
more or less etymologically equal to ON personal name Vigvaldr (with 
a reverse IE –t-suffix distribution). The Goths could have adopted 
the name as *Waihtawalos or even *Waihtiwalhos, pursuing essentially 
the same object - to give the strange name some sense in their 
language.

It seems difficult to imagine a Germanic-speaking tribe keeping a 
Celtic name in its Celtic form...

Ualarauans





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